Stop calling people geniuses!!! Trafalgar’s Mead Braggot review

Stop calling people genius… Why is genius getting thrown around like a casual word to describe talented people? The use of the word genius to describe, say, Kurt Cobain is a little disconcerting given that Cobain, an excellent musician none the less, was nothing more than the first grunge musician to be signed. He was also a drug addict. Every other musician in Seattle at the time, were riding the same wave; Soundgarden, Mud Honey, Pearl Jam. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy Nirvana and have lots of respect for Kurt Cobain’s guitar playing and song writing skills, but face it folks, I don’t remember reading about Cobain being 6 years old when he wrote “Smells like teen Spirit Symphony in the key of E Major”.

Steven Spielberg is another one many referred to as a genius. He is an excellent film director but a genius? I don’t recall any of his fellow directors ever saying “Every time I felt like splitting an atom, I’d call Steven and he’d come on over with his toolbox –we’d split atoms all night. We use to get high on Quantum physics all the time”. Know what I mean? Let’s just agree that Spielberg is not a genius, very gifted he is, but not a genius. So many people make the list; Prince, Aretha Franklin, Stan Lee, George Lucas, Paul McCartney, Morrisey, Mohamed Ali… Come on folks. You know what else bothers me; Eric Clapton is NOT God and when Bill in accounting gives you, in record time, the sales numbers you need for your PowerPoint Presentation, don’t go around saying you love Bill in accounting. Tell your wife, your husband, your kids, your parents or even your closest friends, but, unless you really are in love with him, don’t go around saying you love Bill in accounting or Sue, because she got your shipment out on time.

“I am not a genius, I am just curious” Albert Einstein.

That being said, the folks at Trafalgar Brewery are decent at their craft but not geniuses. This is the second beer form Trafalgar that I rate (India Ink). Don’t get mad at me Trafalgar, no brewer is a genius. They brew a couple of good beers but generally speaking, I’m afraid their container is often greater than the content (if you can open it -read on). That’s Mead Braggot for you.

This is one of these beers that I tried a little while back yet never got around to posting the review. It is no longer available but I am documenting it for the sake of documenting it.

I’m not going to lie to you; I bought this beer because of the ceramic jug. We all did. The container is greater than the content applies here. This is what I mean. First of all, if you’re going to go all marketing on your brewery by bottling in cool looking jugs, make sure folks can open them. My photo of the vice grips tells a long story. Last but not least, if you are going to go all marketing, then you need more than jugs, you need a decent brand image, for both your beers and your brewery. Take Beau’s for example, different labels for every bottle yet they still seem to come from the same hands (except maybe for the Jekyll and Hyde series). Beau’s brand looks good. Trafalgar’s an identity crisis. What can I say; you can make a beer aficionado out of a graphic designer, but you can’t take the graphic designer out of the equation.

LOOK: Mead Braggot poured hazy gold with some head that disappeared soon after.

SMELL: Honey comes through quite a lot, grain and hops also come through, but mainly honey which sounded promising.

TASTE: You’d think the honey would make for great mead. Unfortunately it was a bit of a letdown. The honey came out as stale and the hops were somewhat strange.

FINISH: I don’t quite know how to tell you this, but I never finished it.

BODY: Too light too carbonated, almost watered down.

CONTEXT: Sorry Trafalgar, I hate doing this to these guys and I wish I had something better to say but I’d be lying. I double checked my review with beer advocate and rate beer and sure enough, it’s not good.

REPEATER: No.

Pairing: Burgers, gouda, stew.

Score: 47% (I feel like such an asshole, but that’s what it is)

Price: $7.99

Availability: Done.

Beer type: Mead

Alcohol/Vol.: 8.5%

Brewery: Trafalgar

Country / Region: Toronto, Ontario

So there you have it, sorry once again Trafalgar. This is the fourth beer I try from you (Maple and Cherry haven’t been posted yet) and so far, except for Cherry at most, none have blown me away. So you can understand why I picked up your Cognac aged Porter looked at it, then put it back down on the shelf. Maybe next time.